Asmodee Arkham Horror The Roleplaying Game CORE RULEBOOK - Dive into 1920s Asmodee Arkham's Mysterious World! Immersive RPG Adventure for Kids & Adults, Ages 14+, 2-6 Players, 1+ Hour PlaytimeThe Forest Stewardship Council

Why did you pick this product vs others?:eFun:excellent

such an inventive and fun system.

Very good

Love the book I bought it the same day I bought my startset

I want to start by saying I have a lot of experience with Lovecrafts work in general, a good amount of experience with the second and third editions of the board game, and no experience with the card game.I love the board game, I think it's great. I've played other TTRPG's of Lovecraft and have found them so so.This...is interesting in how it goes about story structure and character design.Right off the bat, I think the character design is pretty minimalist. There's not "A lot" you can do with them from a creation perspective. Effectively, you have Class which determines the skills you have access to at first and Skills which you can improve to improve the number of D6 you would throw. I don't hate that, but I also have never been a huge fan of pure D6 based TTRPGs. I think that style works when you're throwing mass amounts of dice like in a TT Wargame like 40k and to a lesser extend a medium amount of dice like the board game. But in an RPG I think this game would have benefited from a D20 or Percental style similar to Dark Heresy / Imperium Maledictum. Again, I don't dislike it, I just don't think it's the best way to represent dice roles in an RPG.So Character creation is pretty basic, it's more RP than crunch which is perfectly ok if that's the style of game you want to play, similar to a vampire the masquerade setting.In that vain, the campaigns are also on the smaller scale. There is an example campaign in the back of the book and it's interesting reading through it.This game isn't, or wouldn't be benefited by, the epic style campaigns that you might experience in a DnD. Instead this system really thrives in semi short, one off campaigns which are semi "fully" prebuilt by the DM ahead of time. Obviously a DM is going to have an outline for any system they're running but where DnD might have an expansive world to explore this style system seems like it would benefit more from a murder mystery setup where the PC's are introduced to the setting, dropped into a room and told to explore it in an almost escape room style where they gather clues to move on to the next event.Do I hate this? Not at all, I actually did this with a group using the Hunter the Reckoning system this past january (year ago).Do I think every group will like this? Gawd no, I think there are some RP loving players that will hate the style with a passion and describe it as rail roading.So, what do I view this system as excelling at.I think this system would be an amazing introduction to TTRPG'ing or a sort of break game to play in between other, longer form TTRPG's. I think your average campaign of this game is going to be 20-30 hours of play at most . A good group of PC's could probably knock a campaign of this out over a medium length gaming night(6-10 hours). I think this game is absolutely amazing for one offs and I kind of love it for that. Not ever game needs to be an epic, all encompassing campaign. Some games can just be a terror/mystery filled night of constant concern that your character could die at any moment while investigating the twisted horrors of the Lovecraftian universe.

I've played a lot of a few different TTRPGs, and this design feels very different from, let's call them "traditional" TTRPGs. If you're looking for a system where the adventurers are constantly getting more an more power, and they get involved in hugely epic encounters, this might not be for you. This is a horror game. It's designed to be dark and gritty. For example, the game has separate tracking for injuries, horrors, and traumas. The design here is that characters will (especially over the course of a session), get weaker and have more things they need to deal with. Is it fun? Well, it depends on your idea of fun. It's not for everyone, but if you like horror in general, then you'll probably enjoy it.I was impressed with the quality of the manufacturing. The page quality is just as nice as other TTRPG books I've got, but there's a few other touches, like a sewn-in ribbon bookmark that makes the book feel quite a bit nicer.

This is a great system for fans of the Arkham Horror/Call of Cthulhu Lovecraftian horror genre. I also think this is a very fun entry into the world of TTRPGs, particularly for those who have played the Arkham Horror board game. I think the streamlined ruleset is excellent for new players learning the game, and players coming from boardgame backgrounds will feel at home with a lot of the mechanics and components, especially if you also get the starter set (a different listing). This rulebook is more than enough to get going though, and all you'll really need outside of it is access to a bunch of d6 dice. The information is well laid out, complete with tons of gorgeous illustrations, examples, tables, and lore. With the physical rulebook, you also get a code for access to an ebook copy which is especially useful if you plan to run this game online or need to share parts of the rules with your players.As GM, I was concerned at first that this is a game setting that I don't have enough experience with, but the book provides plenty of lore and illustration to get the imagination going so you can create an immersive world. It also comes with a great starter adventure so you can jump right in. The play style of this RPG is also a bit different than I am used to, but it does work well for the right group. From what I have seen so far, roleplay scenes are generally quick and focused, and you essentially jump between all of the important moments while skipping most of the downtime. Of course each GM and playgroup will have a different experience with the roleplay aspect. As a GM, I like that this system also doesn't force you to keep track of quite as many "moving parts." For example, instead of each player and npc or enemy having their own initiative to determine combat order, this game makes things simple by having the "good guys" and the "bad guys" just go back and forth taking turns. This is also a d6 system, so you don't have to keep track of a ton of different types of dice or figure out what kind of dice to use where. Overall it's a very simple game with a lot of potential for both new and experienced players.I will say, if you come from D&D or other d20 based systems, especially those with more linear roleplay or a very crunchy ruleset, this game might take some getting used to. It does have a totally different feel, and might lack some of the depth you're used to depending on the version/edition you usually play. Still, I think most people who give it a chance will be able to have a really good time with this system! I like it a lot so far and think this is one that is well worth adding to your shelf.